AkzoNobel and Atul Plan MCA Production in India in 2019

AkzoNobel and chemicals manufacturing company Atul have formally agreed upon the joint venture partnership announced last year for the production of monochloroacetic acid (MCA) in India. The companies will establish a new plant at Atul's facility in Gujarat by the first quarter of 2019, with each partner holding a 50% stake in the joint venture, which is to be registered as ANAVEN.

"The ANAVEN partnership will contribute to our vision of driving profitable growth for AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals in India, which is an important growth market," said Knut Schwalenberg, Managing Director of AkzoNobel's Industrial Chemicals business. "Our partnership with Atul is part of an asset-light strategy to expand our leading position in MCA through shared incremental investments."

The partnership will use chlorine and hydrogen manufactured by Atul to produce MCA, taking advantage of both Atul's existing infrastructure and the eco-friendly hydrogenation technology of AkzoNobel. From an initial annual capacity of 32,000 tons per year at start-up, the plant has been designed for future expansion to 60,000 tons per year. The facility will produce enough MCA to meet Atul's growing demand for MCA and supply the expanding Indian market.